Pursuing holiness

Monthly Archives: October 2013

Have you ever felt sorry for yourself? Or maybe you were just having one of those days when every little thing seems so big and nothing seems to be right?! Well, I have had many of those lately. I think perhaps I have lost my focus. Somewhere, somehow I have stopped putting my thoughts, my hopes, my entire being into Jesus’s hands and started worrying too much about everything else that is going on around me.

I was checking my Facebook and on my news feed page there was a post from a friend. It hit me right on the heart! My friend is fighting cancer at the moment and God is still using this amazing teacher/preacher to inspire me to put all my trust in HIM. God moves in mysterious ways!

So, I have copied below what I read on his post. May it be an encouragement to you!

God bless.

During my hospital meditations I remembered William Cowper’s masterpiece. Let me share it with you.

God moves in a mysterious wayHis wonders to perform;He plants His footsteps in the sea,And rides upon the storm.Deep in unfathomable minesOf never-failing skill,He treasures up His bright designs,And works His sovereign will.Ye fearful saints, fresh courage take,The clouds ye so much dreadAre big with mercy, and shall breakIn blessings on your head.Judge not the Lord by feeble sense,But trust Him for His grace;Behind a frowning providenceHe hides a smiling face.His purposes will ripen fast,Unfolding every hour;The bud may have a bitter taste,But sweet will be the flower.Blind unbelief is sure to err,And scan His work in vain:God is His own interpreter,And he will make it plain.

In His grace and grip

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I am amazed of how many pick ‘n’ mix offers are about when you are out shopping. In a lot of ways I am grateful for it. When we take the kids to the cinema, for example, we can have one bag of sweets with all sorts, so everyone is happy! Some suppermarkets have something similar to the original pick ‘n’ mix idea: it is the “any 3 for 10” or “any 2 for 5”, etc. That is also helpful if you want a pack of mince, some diced beef and some chicken and you can get it all for £10! There is a negative side to this culture of being able to choose, though. You might eat more sweets than you should/would, if you had one small bag of a type of sweets. You might be tricked to think you wouldn’t save money if you bought your meat and poultry separately.

Unfortunately this culture of “Pick ‘n’ Mix” is entering the church as well. People pick and mix what they want, as long as they are happy that is fine. They pick the nice bits about the Bible, the ones that make them feel warm and loved, but they refuse the parts of the Bible that are designed to instruct and rebuke in love. People want God’s blessings and gifts but they don’t want a relationship with Him – they don’t want the commitment. They pick the bits of Christian life that suits them and they mix it with the things the world offers them and they feel they have done enough.

The Bible tells us in 2 Timothy 3:16-17

“All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, 17 so that the servant of God[a] may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.”

It says “All Scripture”, it does not say: “some parts of it” or “The Old Testament”, or “The New Testament”, or “the letters Paul wrote”. NO. It says: “All Scripture”! There is no room for a pick ‘n’ mix culture when it comes to the Bible. You cannot choose what you like and leave what you don’t like.

As for mixing what the Bible teaches, with the views the world tempts us with, the Bible tells us:

“Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God – this is your true and proper worship. 2 Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is – his good, pleasing and perfect will.” Romans 12:1-2

Note verse 2 says “Do not conform to the pattern of this world”. It is an order as the verb is in the imperative form. We are not to be living like the world. We are not to mix the truths of the Bible with ideals of this world and pretend they fit together. That is not pleasing to God.

Most of the time when we buy sweets at the pick ‘n’ mix in the cinema, we find ourselves complaining of a tummy ache or we feel slighly uncomfortable. So, what first looked like a good idea, was in fact bad for us. Sometimes when I get home after bying a “2 for 5” offer I realise I could have saved money because it was cheaper to buy them separately. The offer appeared so attactive that I did not even read the label with the prices before I picked the items up. False economy!

When we find ourselves trying to pick ‘n’ mix what the Bible teaches us, we should stop right there and then. No matter what the world says to us: we should not have a pick ‘n’ mix faith.

May our God help us to walk closer to Him and trust Him more!

God bless!

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As I was picking up what looked like a mountain of clothes and toys from the floor in my 7 years old son, I found a cross he decorated at Easter time at school. He carefully coloured it in yellow and put lots of gold glitter around it. Normally it is on his wardrobe door so he can see it. I must confess my mind was full of things I wanted to tell Master C about the mess in his room and I wasn’t impressed with the fact he hadn’t even made his bed before he left to school. Do you know the feeling? I was muttering to myself and then God surprised me with a wonderful reminder of His love for us.

Immediately I remembered the verses in Hebrews we studied yesterday morning at our mum’s Bible group and my heart was filled with a sense of awe. These are the verses:

“During the days of Jesus’ life on earth, he offered up prayers and petitions with fervent cries and tears to the one who could save him from death, and he was heard because of his reverent submission. 8 Son though he was, he learned obedience from what he suffered 9 and, once made perfect, he became the source of eternal salvation for all who obey him.” Hebrews 5:7-9

Jesus was fully God and fully human and He experienced extreme agony when He prayed to His Father in the Garden of Gethsemane (verse 7 refers to that). Jesus knew how much He was going to suffer for us and, although he asked God to take this cup away, He chose to be obedient and follow through with the great rescue plan! Jesus didn’t have to learn obedience – He was never disobedient, but He learnt the full cost of obedience when He gave Himself to be our Saviour. He became a perfect sacrifice, without sin, to make atonement for our sins. Mission accomplished and He IS the source of salvation for all who obey Him. What an amazing Saviour we have! What love is this?

All of a sudden the mess in my son’s room didn’t matter anymore! I continued tidying up with songs of praise in my mind!